Wire vibratory apparatus for continuous processing lines



June 27, 1961 J, A FREEMAN WIRE VIBRATORY APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUS PROCESSING LINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 2, 1959 Fig. 4

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WIRE VIBRATORY APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUS PROCESSING LINES Fil ed Feb. 2. 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

JACK I F/Qi-EMA/V ATTORNEY June 27, 1961 J. A. FREEMAN WIRE VIBRATORY APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUS PROCESSING LINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 2, 1959 Y ma r M? 4 W .MO M a P H O 0 lllll ll 1a x o si J.d|l.|..|d| W xii- L 1 L y J n; a

June 27, 1961 J. A. FREEMAN 2,989,942

WIRE VIBRATORY APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUS PROCESSING LINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 2. 1959 JI'I'OR/VEY June 27, 1961 J. A. FREEMAN 2,989,942

WIRE VIBRATORY APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUS PROCESSING LINES Filed Feb. 2, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 LIL INV EN TOR.

JICK 4. FPiEA/l/V final/0 7% United States Patent Oflice 2,989,942 Patented June 27, 1961 2,989,942 WIRE VIBRATORY APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUS PROCESSING LINES Jack A. Freeman, Olmsted Falls, Ohio, assignor to Fnited States Steel Corporation, a corporation of New ersey Filed Feb. 2, 1959, Ser. No. 790,614 14 Claims. (Cl. 118-57) This invention relates to continuous wire processing lines and to an apparatus for vibrating wire moving therethrough.

Vibration of wire being processed has proved desirable from the standpoint of improving certain processing operations such as cleaning, pickling, rinsing, coating, and the like. It has proved particularly effective in the production of aluminum coated steel wire by hot-dipping. In such case vibration of the wire moving through a molten aluminum coating bath has resulted in improved coatings that are more uniform and afford complete coverage of the steel wire. While various forms of wire vibratory apparatus have been proposed for this purpose, trouble has been experienced in obtaining equipment that has a satisfactory life in operation and is not subject to wire-cutting damage by movement of the wire being processed.

This invention accordingly has as one of its principal objects the provision of an improved apparatus that will produce the desired vibration of the wire being processed and has a satisfactory operational life. To this end, the invention is directed to improvements in a vibrator in the form of a rotatable drum which has peripheral engagement with wire moving through a processing line and which has a plurality of tungsten carbide bars arranged at circumferentially spaced intervals about its periphery that strike the wire and impart a vibrating movement thereto upon rapid rotation of the drum. Such improvements, more particularly, are applied to vibrating apparatus having structure and features that form the subject-matter of Arch W. Harris application Serial No. 743,616, filed June 23, 1958, to which reference is made for a more complete description thereof. A further and related object is to provide a vibratory drum of this character in which the tungsten carbide bars extend over the entire axial length of the drum and are securely connected thereto by key-slots extending axially of the drum in which they are received.

Another object of the invention is to provide a vibrator of the character mentioned above which is not subject to localized wear or cutting by the wire being vibrated. For this purpose, the vibratory drum is supported for axial movement and a traversing drive is provided for reciprocating it to distribute the Wear due to engagement with the wire being vibrated uniformly over the length of the tungsten carbide wire striker bars.

A further object isto provide a drive for imparting simultaneous rotational and axial movement of a vibratory drum for vibrating wire in a continuous processing line.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description.

The accompanying drawings show a wire vibratory apparatus constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention and its arrangement with respect to an aluminum coating pot. In this showing:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view of an aluminum coating pot which illustrates the path of wire travel therethrough and in which the vibratory apparatus of this invention is shown fragmentarily in section and end elevation;

FIGURE 2 is a partial plan view of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional and elevational view which omits the guide rolls shown in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary end view of the wire vibratory drum;

7 FIGURE is a plan view of a guide pin assembly that is used for holding the Wire against axial movement with respect to the vibratory drum;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary end elevational view showing the operating position of the guide assembly of FIGURE 5 relative to the vibratory drum;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of the guide pin assembly shown in FIGURES 5 and 6;

FIGURE 8 is a plan view of a modified and preferred form of drive for imparting axial reciprocating movement to the vibratory drum shown in FIGURES 2 and 3;

:FIGURE 9 is a side elevation of the drive shown in FIGURE 8; and

FIGURE 10 is an end elevation looking from the left of the drive shown in FIGURE 8 but omitting the motor for rotating the vibratory drum.

FIGURES 1 and 3 of the drawings illustrate somewhat diagrammatically a conventional apparatus for applying a hot-dipped coating of aluminum to multiple strands of steel wire. It comprises a melting pot 1 containing a bath 2 of aluminum coating metal through which the strands of wire to be coated are drawn. 'The Wire W is fed to the pot 1 over grooved guide rolls 3 at one edge thereof and after movement over a sinker 4 is withdrawn vertically through wipers 5. The rolls 3 and wipers 5 together with other guiding devices (not shown but customarily provided in coating apparatus of this character) define separate passes through which the strands of wire W have a guided movement over parallel paths.

Generally stated, the apparatus of this invention comprises a wire vibratory drum 6, a frame 7 for supporting the drum 6 and imparting an axial reciprocating movement thereto, and a drive 8 for rotating the drum 6 and imparting axial reciprocating movement to the frame 7. As best shown in FIGURE 1, the drum 6 extends transversely of the path of wire movement and has peripheral engagement with each wire strand W at a point above the surface of the bath 2 and between the guide rolls 3 and sinker 4. Spring supported guide rolls 9 arranged between the drum 6 and guide rolls 3 exert an upward force holding each strand of wire W engaged with the periphery of the vibrating drum 6.

As shown in FIGURE 4, the drum 6 comprises a cylindrical shell 11 which is arranged concentrically of and is rotated by a drive shaft 12 through a key connection 13. The shell 11 has a plurality of circumferentially spaced dove-tail grooves 14, preferably sixteen in number, extending axially of its outer surface. The grooves 14 provide key-slots in which a plurality of relatively short sections of tungsten carbide bars 15 are inserted in end-to-end and abutting relation. In transverse section the bars 15 have the shape of an isosceles triangle and the dove-tail key-slots 14 have a truncated isosceles triangular shape. When inserted in the slots 14 with their ends abutting as shown in FIGURE 3, the bars 15 provide parallel rounded ridges or tips 16 extending axially along the entire length of the shell 11 and projecting radially outwardly from the surface thereof which act as striker bars that engage the strands of wire with a striking action upon rotation of the drum 6. The triangular shape of the bars 15 is preferred since it enables their reassembly in the slots 14 in rotated positions that provide new striker edges 16 after wear of one has taken place. While the drum 6 as shown in the drawings is comprised of a shell 11 and shaft 12, it will be apparent that these parts may be made integral thereby eliminating the key connection 13.

As best shown in FIGURE 3, the drum 6 is rotatably supported on the frame 7 by a pair of bearings 18 in which opposite ends 19 of the shaft 12 are rotatably received. Since the frame 7 operates to impart axial movement to the drum 6, at least one of the bearings 18 must be capable of transmitting end-thrust to prevent relative axial movement between the frame 7 and drum'6. It is preferred that only one of the bearings 18 be an end-thrust bearing so that the other bearing 18 may provide for thermal expansion of the shaft12. Rotation is imparted to the drum 6 by the drive 8 which includes an electric drive motor 20 that has its drive shaft 21 connected in driving relation with the end 19 of the drive shaft 12 through a splined coupling member 22 that provides for axial movement of the shaft 12 relative to the motor drive shaft 21 upon re ciprocation of the frame 7 in a manner to be described. The motor 20 is mounted on a stationary bracket '24 at one side of the melting pot 1, and is operated to rotate the drum 6 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG- URE 1 so that its periphery moves in the direction of the wire travel. By rotating the drum 6 in this manner, the portion of the wire moving through the bath is not placed under tension.

During a wire coating operation of the apparatus, each of the wire strands W fed to the bath 2 over the guide rolls 3 moves tangentially over the periphery of the drum 6 and, in order to vibrate the wire at the required frequency, the drum 6 is rotated at a peripheral speed greatly in excess of the linear speed of wire movement. In an apparatus in which the shell 11 for example has a diameter of about five inches and is provided with sixteen striker rod tips 16 as described above and in which the wire being coated has a linear speed of from 40 to 140 feet per minute dependingupon the size of the wire being coated, the motor drive 20-22 is operated to rotate the drum 6 at speeds of from 1900-2300 r.p.m., and the product of the drum speed and the number of striker rods on the drum 11'wi1l furnish an indication of the wire vibration frequency. Generally stated, the drum speed and the linear speed of wire movement increase as the gauge of the wire being coated decreases.

To obtain uniform wear and to prevent wire-cutting of the striker rod tips 16, the drum 6 is reciprocated in an axial direction over a path slightly greater than the distance between adjacent strands of wire as determined by the axial spacing of the guide rolls 3. For this purpose, the beam 7 is mounted for rectilinear movement in a direction extending axially of the drum 6 and transversely of the path of wire movement. The mounting of the beam 7 in this respect is provided by stationary guide supports 25 at opposite edges of the pot 1 on which legs 26 depending from opposite ends of the beam 7 are supported and have a guided movement. The beam is guided over a rectilinear path by rollers 27 which have rolling engagement in slide trackways 28 on the supports 25 (see FIGURE V Reciprocating movement is imparted to the beam 7 by the drive 8 which further includes a reversing air motor 30 of conventional construction mounted on a stationary bracket 31 (see FIGURE 10) attached to the motor bracket 24. The motor 30 is an expansible chamber motor which includes a piston rod 32 connected at its outer end to a bracket end plate 33 extending transversely of and secured to the beam 7. Its reversing operation is controlled by a reversing valve 34 which is actuated by a reversing valve rod 35 mounted for sliding movement along the length of the motor 30. The stroke of the motor 30 is determined by the position of stop-nuts 36 threaded on the rod 35. An actuator 37 arranged between the stop-nuts 36 and connected with the piston rod 32 for movement therewith engages one of the nuts 36 at each end of the stroke of the motor 30 to thereby operate the rod 35 and effect an operation of the reversing valve 3 4. The stroke of the motor 30 and thereby the lengthof the path of reciprocating movement imparted to the beam 7 is controlled by adjusting the positions of the nuts 36 on the rod 35. The speed of reciprocating movement is controlled by a hydraulic cylinder 38 mounted on a bracket 39 that is attached to the motor support 24. The hydraulic cylinder 38 has a piston rod 40 connected to bracket end plate 33 and thus secured to the beam 7 for movement therewith. As the piston rod 40 moves back and forth with the beam 7, hydraulic fiuid is forced from one end to the other of the hydraulic cylinder 38. An adjustable valve 42 regulates the flow of hydraulic fluid from one end to the other of the cylinder 38 to thereby control the speed at which the beam 7 is reciprocated. As indicated, the air motor 30 and the speed control hydraulic cylinder 38 are conventional, one suitable form of which is Model No. BCAM-1G-50 of The Bellows Company, Akron, Ohio, and is shown on page 21 of their catalog, Air Motors and Valves Bulletin, SP-SSR.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the drive 8 operates to both rotate and impart a reciprocated axial movement to the drum 6. As the drum is rotated by the motor 20, the reversing air motor 30 operates to reciprocate the supporting beam 7 and thereby the drum 6 which is supported thereon by the bearings 18. The spline connection 22 as explained above provides for reciprocation of the drum 6 while it is being rotated by the motor 20. By reason of the reciprocating movement of the drum 6, the points at which the rod tips 16 strike the strands of Wire W are continually changed and wire-cutting of the tips 16 is thereby prevented. In this manner, the wear which results from engagement of the tips 16 with the wire is distributed uniformly over their axial length.

To prevent lateral movement of the strands of wire W with axial movement of the drum 6, which would defeat the purpose of distributing wear over the length of the striker rods 15 that is accomplished by moving the drum 6 axially, a guide pin assembly '45 is mounted on the pot 1 in a position extending along the length of the drum 6. The assembly 45 comprises a transversely extending supporting strap 46 which has opposite ends 47 thereof bolted to the sides of the pot 1. As best shown in FIGURES 5-7 guide pin supporting plates 48 are secured to the support 46 by mounting brackets '49. Two pairs 50 and 51 of laterally spaced guide pins 52 are mounted on the plates '48 in positions spaced along the length of each strand of wire W. The pins 52 have their lower ends received in openings 53 and are secured therein by set-screws 54. The pairs 50 and 51 of pins 52 are arranged on opposite sides of the point at which each strand of wire W engages the drum 6 as shown in FIGURE 6. In operation, the pins 52 in each of the pairs 50 and 51 define a fixed pass through which each strand of wire W moves tangentially over the surface of the drum 6 and operate to prevent lateral movement of the wire W with axial movement of the drum 6.

' With a reversing drive for reciprocating the beam 7 as described above and as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3 of the drawings, axial movement of the drum 6 always reverses at the same points relative to the path of wire movement, and this has been found to result in greater wear of the striker rod tips 16 at such points. The preferred form of reversing drive shown in FIGURES 8-10 provides a compound reversing movement of the drum 6 that eliminates wear of this character. It operates in a manner to be described to continually shift with a reciprocating action the entire path of reversing movement imparted to the beam 7 by the motor 30.

In the reversing drive shown in FIGURES 8-10, actuation of the stop nuts 36 on the reversing valve rod 35 is effected by a lug 60 in place of the piston-connected actuator 37 as shown in 'FIGURE 2. The lug 60 projects outwardly from and is secured to a plate 61 that has a slide support on a bracket 62 which is secured to end plate 33 for movement with the beam 7. The mounting of the plate 61 on the bracket 62 comprises a pin 63 which is attached to the bracket 62 and projects upwardly through a slot 64 in the slide plate 61. 'The slot 64 extends in a direction parallel to the path of reciprocating movement of the beam 7 and operates to guide the sliding movement of the plate 61 on the bracket 62. In this manner, and assuming that the slide plate 61 is held stationary relative to the bracket 62, the lug 60 will move with the beam 7 and will effect a reversing operation of the nuts 36 on the reversing valve rod 35 in the same manner as the actuator 37 shown in FIGURE 2 of the application drawings.

In order to provide the compound reciprocating movement of the beam 7 described above, the slide plate 61 is reciprocated relative to the bracket 62 at a slower speed compared to the speed at which the plate 62 is reciprocated by the beam 7. This is accomplished by a crank and pitman drive mounted on the bracket 62 which comprises a pitman 66 that has one end pivotally connected at 67 to the slide plate 61 and a pivotal connection at its other end 68 to a crank pin 69. The pin 69 has an ec centric mounting on a crank disc 70 which is rotated at a low rate of speed, from one to two revolutions per minute, by an electric motor gear reduction drive unit 71 through a speed change gear reducing set 72. In this manner, the plate 61 and valve operating lug 60 have a reciprocating movement on the bracket 62 that is determined by the radius of rotation of the crank pin 69 at a frequency that is determined by the rotational speed of the disc 70, and a reciprocating movement with the bracket 62 at a considerably greater frequency which is regulated by adjusting the valve 42 that controls the speed of operation of the motor 30.

Upon rotation of the crank disc 70, the plate 61 slides back and forth to change the operating position of the lug 60 and thus change the position of the path of reciprocating movement of the beam 7 by the motor 30 as determined by the distance between the lugs 36. In other words, the path of reciprocating movement determined by the distance between the lugs 36 continually changes with reciprocating movement of the lug 60, and the beam 7 traverses a total path that is determined by spacing of the reversing valve nuts 36 and the distance that the plate 61 is moved by the crank 70.

While the accompanying drawings and foregoing description disclose a preferred embodiment of the invention as applied to an aluminum coating operation, it will be understood that the vibratory apparatus of this invention is applicable to other continuous processing operations and to apparatus for continuously processing other strandlike materials such as flat-wire, rod, strip and the like, and in this respect the term wire as used herein is in tended as generic to such other materials. Other adaptations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A vibratory apparatus for a continuous wire processing line comprising, the combination with means defining separate passes for guiding the movement of plural wires over parallel paths through said line, of a drum mounted for rotation about an axis extending transversely of the path of wire movement, a plurality of wire striker bars arranged at circumferentially spaced intervals about said drum and extending axially thereof, each of said bars projecting radially outwardly with respect to the periphery of said drum and being adapted to engage each of the wires moving through the line with a striking action upon rotation of said drum, means for rotating said drum whereby said striker bars operate to impart a vibratory movement to the wire engaged thereby, and means for imparting an axial reciprocating movement to said drum to thereby continuously change the points at which said bars strike the wire and to prevent localized wear and wire-cutting of said striker bars.

2. A vibratory apparatus for a continuous wire processing line comprising, the combination with means defining separate passes for guiding the movement of plural wires over parallel paths through said line, of a drum mounted for rotation about an axis extending transversely of the path of wire movement, a plurality of wire striker bars arranged at circumferentially spaced intervals about said drum and extending axially thereof, each of said bars projecting radially outwardly with respect to the periphery of said drum and being adapted to engage each of the wires moving through the line with a striking action upon rotation of said drum, means for rotating said drum whereby said striker bars operate to impart a vibratory movement to the wire engaged thereby, means for imparting an axial reciprocating movement to said drum, and wire guide pass means arranged adjacent the points at which said striker bars engage said wires for guiding the movement of said wires along said parallel paths and for preventing lateral movement thereof with respect to said axis of drum rotation.

3. An apparatus as defined in claim 2 characterized by said guide pass means comprising a guide pin assembly providing in conjunction with each of said plural wires a first pair of laterally spaced guide pins in advance of its point of engagement by said striker bars, and a second pair of pins following said point of engagement, each of said pin pairs providing a guide pass through which the Wire travels relative to said drum.

4. A vibratory apparatus for wire moving through a continuous processing line comprising a rota-table assembly of a plurality of parallel wire striker bars mounted for rotation about an axis extending transversely of the path of Wire movement, said striker bars being circumferentially spaced about said axis and being adapted upon rotation of said assembly to engage wire moving through said line with a striking action, means for rotating said assembly, and means for reciprocating said assembly over an axial path during rotation thereof.

5-. A wire vibratory apparatus as defined in claim 4 characterized by said reciprocating means comprising a frame on which said assembly is rotatably supported, means mounting said frame for rectilinear movement over a path parallel to said axis of rotation, and a traverse drive for reciprocating said frame over said path.

6. A wire vibratory apparatus as defined in claim 5 characterized by said assembly rotating means comprising a stationary support, an electric motor mounted on said support, and means including a spline connection coupling said motor in driving relation with said assembly and providing for axial movement thereof by said reciprocating means.

7. An apparatus as defined in claim 5 characterized by said traverse drive comprising an expansible chamber fluid pressure motor, and reversing control means rendering said motor operative to reciprocate said frame over a path of predetermined length.

8. An apparatus as defined in claim 7 characterized by means operable through said motor for continuously shifiting said path of reciprocating frame movement back and forth with a reciprocating action relative to the direction of wire movement.

9. A vibratory apparatus for continuous wire processing lines comprising, the combination with means defining separate passes for guiding the movement of plural wires over parallel paths through said line, of a drum mounted for rotation about an axis extending transversely of the path of wire movement, said drum having a plurality of axially extending key-slots arranged at circumferentially spaced intervals about its periphery, and plural striker bars received in and anchored by said key slots to said drum for rotation therewith, each of said striker bars having a portion projecting radially outwardly with respect to the periphery of said drum and being adapted to engage the wire moving through the line with a striking action upon rotation of said drum, and means for rotating said drum.

10. An apparatus as defined in claim 9 characterized by each of said striker bars having an isosceles triangular shape in transverse section and, said key-slots having the shape of a truncated isosceles triangle.

11. An apparatus for vibrating plunal wires moving continuously over parallel paths in a wire processing line comprising a plurality of striker bars having an isosceles triangular shape in transverse section, a cylindrical drum having a plurality of axially extending dove-tail key-slots arranged at circumferentially spaced intervals about its periphery, said striker bars being received in said key slots and anchored thereby to said drum, and means mounting said drum for rotation about an axis extending transversely of the path of wire movement, each of said striker bars having a portion projecting radially outwardly with respect to the periphery of said drum and being adapted to engage the wire moving through the line with a striking action upon rotation of said drum.

12. A vibratory apparatus for wire moving through a continuous processing line comprising a rotatable assembly of a plurality of parallel wire striker bars, mounted for rotation about an axis extending transversely of the path.

of wire movement, said striker bars being circumferentially spaced about said axis and being adapted upon rotation of said assembly to engage wire moving through 7 said line with a striking action, means for rotating said assembly, means for reciprocating said assembly over an axial path during rotation thereof, and wire guide pass means arranged adjacent the points at which said striker bars engage said wires for guiding the movement of said wires along said parallel paths and for preventing lateral movement thereof with respect to said axis of drum rotation.

13. An apparatus as defined in claim 12 characterized by said guide pass means comprising a guide pin assembly providing in conjunction with each of said plural wires successive pairs of latenal ly spaced gmide pins respectively arranged in advance of and following the point at which it is engaged by said striker bars, each of said pairs of guide pins providing a guide pass through which the wire travels relative to said drum.

14. A vibratory apparatus for wire moving through a continuous processing line comprising a rotatable assembly of a plurality of parallel wire striker bars mounted for rotation about an axis extending transversely of the path of wire movement, said striker bars being circumpansible chamber fluid pressure motor having a piston rod connected with said assembly for-movingit over said axial path, valve means for reversing the operation of. said motor including a control rod supported for endwise movement, a pair of stops mounted at points spaced apart on said rod a distance corresponding to the operating stroke of said. motor, a bracket mounted for axial movement with said assembly, a slide mounted on said bracket for movement relative thereto in the direction of saidaxial movement, a valve operating lug secured to said slide for movement therewith and having an, end portion disposed between said stops whereby it engages said stops and eifects endwise movements of said control rod in opposite directions in response to movement of said piston rod to opposite ends of the operating stroke of said motor, and means for reciprocating said slide on said bracket to thereby change =the relative position of said valve operating lug relative to said bracket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,489,393 Milne Apr. 8, 1924 1,565,262 Da Costa Dec. 15, 1925 1,979,733 Damerell Nov. 6, 1934 2,325,126 Giesler July 27, 1943 2,450,847 Wilson Oct. 5, 1948 2,712,154 Lindquist July 5, 1955 

